Manu Bhaker interview: Delhi High Court orders takedown of posts against Rohan Dua

The Delhi High Court on Monday ordered a host of social media users to take down their posts criticising journalist Rohan Dua for his interview with Olympian Manu Bhaker as being "sexist". .Justice Navin Chawla ordered the social media handles to delete the posts within a week. If the handles fail to take down the posts, X Corp (earlier Twitter) and Meta will block the content, the Court ordered. .The Court passed the direction after Dua's lawyers filed an affidavit stating that Bhaker had liked Dua's post of the interview, proving that she took no offence to the questions posed to her. In the last hearing of the case, the Court had asked Dua to produce details to show that Bhaker had no issues with the interview.Today, it was informed that the interview was approved by Bhaker's team as well.Justice Chawla examined the affidavit and then passed the injunction order. Advocate Raghav Awasthi appeared for Dua..Dua is the founder of a news platform called The New Indian. He interviewed Indian shooter Manu Bhaker after she won two bronze medals at the Paris Olympics.A short clip of the interview went viral on social media where Dua could be seen asking Bhaker about her and her mother’s photos with fellow Olympian Neeraj Chopra. "It may be a little trivial question and awkward to ask you but since, of course, the others have also asked so, I may ask you this question. Not that I mean to demean your medal or your efforts. But then, of course, the photos went viral with that of Neeraj. I don’t know if you see it as a compliment but, of course, you are one of the most attractive females, beautiful females, in Indian’s history of Olympics or this sport particularly. Are we right to assume that there was some sort of a chemistry or it was just that he [Neeraj Chopra] wanted to snub it as one off moment which someone clicked?” Dua posed the question. Bhaker replied that she has known Chopra for a long time and that he is one of the best athletes in the country who she likes to have a chat with. She further explained that her mother is also very attached with other athletes and treats everyone as her own child..A Twitter user named Roshan Rai [a defendant in Dua's suit] posted the video and criticised Dua for asking such a question."Manu Bhaker came back after winning a double bronze for India at the #Paris2024 Olympics at 22. But the reporter can't get over how beautiful and attractive she is. This is the level of Indian Journalism. What a shame," Rai wrote.Several other social media handles also posted the video terming the question "sexist" and calling the interviewer "unprofessional".In his defamation suit, Dua has argued that these statements not only attack his professional competence, but also spread a false narrative that he was being sexist and inappropriate, overshadowing Bhaker's achievements."These defamatory assertions, made without considering the full context of the interview, have unjustly damaged the Plaintiff No.2’s [Rohan Dua] reputation, and it is crucial to restrain these social media handles (Defendants No.1 to 13) from further posting or disseminating similar defamatory content," the suit stressed..The defamation suit was filed through Advocates Mukesh Sharma, Lohitaksha Shukla, Chandni Shah and Dinesh Sharma.